Description:
Tankard covered in an opaque glaze, leaf-gilded and painted in deep-blue, green, black, white, and Pompeian red with ten princely figures in various attitudes, their caftans ornamented with scrolls, crosses and other designs. Kufic on the rim and a cursive inscription on the handle.

Label Text:
The bright colors and painterly decoration of this cup are typical of mina’i ware, which was popular in Iran from the 12th to the 13th century. The ten seated men are probably royal figures, indicated by their gold tiraz, the honorific arm bands bestowed by sultans upon their supporters and courtiers. The cup bears two rows of calligraphy – one around the outside of the rim and another on the interior. Calligraphic inscriptions on cups like this usually offer good wishes and fortune to the cup’s owner.

-Kendra Weisbin, Associate Curator of Education, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum (Sept. 2016)

Tags:
ancient; archaeology

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=MH+2012.40.15

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.